Civil-Military Relations in Thailand

• Main Authors: Chen, Pei-Hsiu, 陳佩修
• Other Authors: Chen, Hurng-Yu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1999
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/79663182466506011671

博士 === 國立政治大學 === 政治學系 === 88 === Abstract Thailand is a typical example of military regime. Since the first constitution was promulgated in 1932, there have been 19 general elections accompanied by 19 military coups. Despite this ''vicious circle'', the Thais have created a ''semi-democracy'' in the third wave of global democratization in which the "civil-military relations" plays a key role in the fulfillment of the path of Thai democracy. This dissertation begins with an examination of the theories and approaches of "Thai studies" and "civil-military relations". It then attempts to build up a dynamic model for the analysis of Thai civil-military relations. The issue area of this thesis includes: the military achievement of political dominance, the developing strategies of military regimes, the establishment and operation of civilian control, and the formation of military "disengagement " from politics. This thesis argues that Thailand is a typical example to demonstrate that "civil-military relations" is a key issue not only in the phase of democratic transition, but in the process of consolidation of democracy. Besides, three elements of the dynamic model decide the outcome of the development of Thai civil-military relations, they are "the power of civil society ", "the political prestige of the King" and "the compromise between civilian and military elite". Moreover, "military coup" is the most important element to evaluate Thai civil-military relations. This thesis demonstrates the ''intermittence'' and ''phases'' of Thai coups by way of calculating their ''frequencies'', and try to explain the causes, as well as the outcome and effects, of Thai coups through two dimensions : the mass movement and the role of the King. The longer the last "intermittence" (since 1991) lasts, the more stable Thai civilian control regime is.